Motor.



PATENTED PEB. 4, 1908.

No. 377,977.-` l

, F. G. AXTELL. MOTOR. y APPLICATION FILED MAB...19,.1907. l

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

u l E IO'. Qi l O O N I i' lt Il I , PATENTBD 7512.4, 1908. P.. G.AXTELL.

MOTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19. 1907.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 877,977. PATENTED FEB. 4, 1908.

F; o. AXTVBLL. y Mofrom. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19. 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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f@ W m E 7 'QXXLWMQOZ n v www m ,Wm/Z www@ PATENTED FEB; 4, 1908.

T. '0. -AXTBLL MOTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 19. 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

iiiarrnn 'r arras FRANK o. AxTELL, or snoer HILLS, NEW JERSEY.

MOTOR.

. no. err/,977.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented rb. 4,1908.

Application filed March 19. 1907. Serial. No'. 3631259.

lfff all whom it may concern: ie it known that I, FRANK 0. AxrELL, `aLzen of the United States, and lresident of Snort Hills, Essex. county,New Jersey, have l invented certain newl and useful improvements inMotors, otwliich the following' is va speciiication.-

, The object of my invention is to produce a motor, .simple ,inconstruction, relatively light in weight, and vwhich is applicable foruse as an internal combustion heat motor or engine, andwherebysubstantially continuous rotativerforce or torqueinay beobtained.

In carrying out my invention l provide a plurality of cylinders arrangedsubstantially Itangentially with respect to an axis aroundv y which theyrotate, pistons for said cylinders and means for causing said pistons'to reciprocate back and forthat least twice for each completerevolution of the corresponding cyl'- inder, or in yother words, tocause any given point of each piston to describe an approxi# matelyelliptical path or curve during each revolution of the cylinders' orfour strokes lof the pistons., T o cause -the pistons to perform fourstrokes during each revolutionA of the corresponding cylinder, I haveshown an elliotical'guide disposed without the cylinder,

i and means connected with the pistons for coaction with such guide forcausing each piston, during each i'evolution of its cylinder, to"

' move inwardly, then outwardly,- again inwardly, and again outwardly.To cause the motor to operate' onthe principles ofl the four-cyclegas-engine, so that the well known foin' stroke 'cycle 'will beperformed during each revolution ofeach cylinder, l have shown valvularmeans for permitting the'envtrance of fuel into each cylinder, itscompression therein, its 4explosion or expansion therein for the powerstroke, and the exhaust ofthe spent gases therefrom.

My invention also comprises thenovel details of improvement and.combination ofi arts thatv will be hereinafterv more fully set toi-thand then pointed out in the claims Reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings forming parthereof, wherein Figure l is an edgeview of a motor embody L ing my invention; Fig. 2 is a verticallcrosssection, substantially on the line 2, 2 in Fig. l; Fig. 3 is al'cross section, substantially on the irregular line 3, 3, in Fig. 2,the pistons being omitted; Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic `secltion'on theline 4, i, in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a diay Fig. 6 is a detail sectionthrough one cylinder and piston,showing also the' casing and piston-controlling guide; Fig. 7 is an end view of a piston partly insection; Fig. 8 is a face view of a piston; Fig. 9 is a central sectionof ,a iston; Fig. 10 is a developed plan of the tiiiular valve,I showninthe drawings, for

controlling the fuel and exhaust gases;

11 isa sectional viewof the motor ishowing ydisk 5 in a diilerentposition from Fig. 3';

Fig.v 12 isa perspective view of disk 5; Fig. v

13 is a perspective view of casing member 10;

Fig. 14 is a detail section of a modification;

and Figjl is a cross section thereof.

vIn the accom lanyingl drawings the nu-V merals 1,'2, 37am 4, indicatecylinders which l 'grammatic section on the line 5, 5, inwFig. 3;v y

may be of any suitable construction, being.r f

whereby said disk is mountedl to rotate in.,

suitable. bearings. I haveshown thecylinder support or disk 5 as-mountedto rotate l within a suitable casing or frame, coniprising side membersorplates 9, 10,v rovided with bearings 11, 12, ofv any suita le conf.struction for the lshafts 6, 8.'A If said frame or casing be madeofxplates' they maybe provided with suitable passages 9, 10, for'vthe;ycirculation of fluid for cooling purposes;y

while if said framebe made iii skeleton `fr`\or'ii'i"'4 `the cylindersmay be air-cooled. Saidlfranie or casing is provided with aguidefgrcausf l ing reciprocation of the pistons13, 1`4,`,].5; i6, lofthe corresponding cylinders". guide l" have shown comprises an"ou`te,ryband 1.7,

10, as byscrews 18, having-a *working face I17a, and ways 20., 2l,within saidband, which Y are sliown formed on the casing neinbers 9,10,v Thisl piston controllinV guide 17, 20, 21 is shown of substantialelliptical eFig. 2)

forni on the workin(r surfaces (s and the axis of revotlution of ,thecylinders (the shafts 6, 8) is jouinaled within an'd at the securedtoorib'etween the casing'niembers 9,

center' of ysaid elliptical iston guide. The'.r

pistons are provided wit 'means for co-act ing` with said ellipticalguide, whereby for each revolution of each cylinder and its iston thecorresponding piston has four stro esA (two outward and two inwardstrokes.) As a'convenient means for this purpose, I have shown eachpiston provided with a pin or shaft 22, providing gudgeons extendingfrom opposite sides,V of the piston, being shown as secured` in acrossmember 23 at the outer end of the pist-on. Upon saidgudgeons the rollers24, are mounted to rotate, ybeing shownsupwported by suitableantifriction ball or roller earings 25. Said rollers 24, are ada ted totravel on the inner elli'tical wor ing face 17, of the uide 17 an( alsoupon the ways 20, 21 of t e elliptical piston guide causingreciprocations of the pistons during their revolution. The diameters ofthe rollers 24, arepreferably very slightly less than the distancebetween the elliptical workingsurface 17aL and the WaysA 20, 21 of thepiston guide, so that when rollers 24 bear upon the elliptical guide 17,they will be out of contact with the ways 20, 21, and vice versa.

By means of the arrangements described,

it will be understood that during revolutionsof the cylinders whenpressure or resistance 1s within a cylinder (such as ex losion,exhausting or compresslon pressurethe rollers 24, of the correspondingpiston will pressagainst the guide 17, and that when a piston is movingoutwardly on the suction or intake stroke the rollers 24 will bear uponthe ways 20, 2l.

The means I have shown for admitting charges of fuel to the cylinders,igniting the charges, and exhausting the -s ent products of combustionfrom the cylin ers are as follows Vithin the bore 8a of the shaft orgudgeon 8 is 'located a tube 25, shown provided near itsiinner end witha partition 25X ro riding a chamber 26 communicating with ore 7 of shaft6. The tube 25 has-a port 25a, adapted to communicate with corre-`spondingintake ports 27 (see Figs. 2- and 4) at or near the inner endsof the cylinders and correspondingly arrangedv in position, the tube 25fitting snugly. adjacent 'to said ports, in a bore in the cylindersupport or dlsk 5, indicated at 28 in Fig. 4. At or near their innerends the cylinders also have exhaust ports, indicated at 29 in Fig. 5,and correspondingly arranged in the cylinders, adapted to successivelyregister with exhaust 'port 26ct of chamber 28, to permit the escape ofproducts of combustion through the bore of4 shaft 6.

Instead of permitting lthe' exhaust gases to escape through the open endof bore 7 of shaft 6, the gases may be permitted to escape through holesor slots 6a in said shaft communicating with said bore and inclosedwithin suitable hood or chamber 30, mounted upon said shaft, as byanti-friction bearings 30", and having an outlet indicated at 29a,which, when connected with an o1 iinary muicr, will preventl rotation ofsaid hood, see Figs. 14 and: 15.. The engine ma,T be

- reference to the cylinders.

' he igniter openi'n 10"-Inay be elongated in the direction of a circledescribed around the axis of rotation of the cylinders, (see Fig. 11)which may extend for nearly 90 in the di- For'f this purpose I haveshown an rection in which 'the cylinders rotate, whereby the spark lmay'bey maintained in the presence of the compressed and burning gases fromopenings'33 during a considerable portion of the explosion stroke. 4

The fuel inlet tube orvalve 25 may be held from rotation by any suitablemeans. For this purpose I have shown a yoke 34 secured to tubular valve25 and provided with set screws 35 adaptedy to engage hub12 for holdingtubular valve 25 in'positions of adjustment, and by this means also theports of said tube may be adjusted angularly with res ect to the portsof the cylinders for regulatlng the inlet and exhaust of the gases withSaid yoke, however, may be fastened to .any other suitable stationarypart associated with the motor.

The frame of thernotor is shown provided with lugs 36 which may befastened to any suitable support, although said frame ,may be supportedin any suitable manner, or said lugs may be laced in any other suitableposition upon t ie casing. l The operation of my improvements as a fourstroke cycle -gas engine producing an explosion stroke for eachrevolution of a cylinder, may be described as follows A suitablecarbureter'vor the llike being connected with tubular valve 25, and theigniter or spark plug being connected with an electric circuit arrangedand controlled in any well known or suitable manner, and the cylindersthen being rotated, as to the right in Figs..

ton: Lpon this explosion occurring, the pressure acting tangentiallywith respect to the disk 5, drives the latter in the direction I shownby the arrow, and the rollers 24, c arried by said piston, follow theincreasing'A radii of the elliptical guide face 17a, as the pistonadvances on the explosion stroke, until the piston reaches thepositionrepresented at a in Fig. 5. At this point, the eX- haust port29,-.of the cylinder, reaches a po- `sition with respect to exhaust port26a so that' vco n i'ruunicationfnerfit-begins to be estab-- lishedbetween; saidlfort-s, and; as disk 5 con" tinuesto revolvaitlierollers24'ofitheiaforei said, cylinderistill, bearing' awainstfthe ellipticalguide face 17,7tsa-id rol ers now travelon the .decreasing radii of saidguide face) force lthepiston back; .into the cylinder until itreachesthe; position indicated atl) in Fig., '5 (indicated 'also by theposition of piston 15 in Fig; 2)rby which time the spent gases havebeenexhausted ,or expelled from the correspondi'ngcylinder,5 and thenthe inlet port 27 ,of saidI cylinder. begins, during furtherrevolutiomito'Y register. with the inlet port 25?, as indicatedby theposition vof the piston and Aports at, cin ,F 4. f At this point the'rollers 24 in place of-,liearing against the inner face 17*v ofthepiston guide, find a seat or seats upon the elliptical ways 20, 21, and.

durinfrthe continued .revolution throufrh the b Z'S .neXtguarter portion.fof the elliptical guide l the cylinder, and when the piston reachesthe sively in order.

that anyA desired niunben of cylinders may be position shown at .d insaid figure (indicated also by tlieiposition ofpiston 16' in Fig. 2)-

the ports 2521 and Z'Yfn'ill have closed. As the` disk continues torotate, the rollers 24 of its piston again engage thefourth quarter ofthe elliptical surface (traveling along the next decreasing rad ii)thusforcing the piston back intothe cylinder and compressing the chargetherein, V'andrwhenfsucli piston againv reaches its 'lirstnamedpositiomindicated at e in Fig. l-4explosion again occurs. From thedescription-givenabove ofthe revolution of onecylinder itwill/,be.understood thatan eX- `@lesion occurs once in each revolutionof such bylinder. having four cylindersand pistonsfitted to the support5i, it will be obvious that `there `will be four explosion strokes foreach :ompleteirevolution of support 5, the' explosions in the cylindersfollowing succeslt Vwill also be understood ittedtoa rotating. support(limited ,only by thediniensionspf thevjsupport and cylinders) allthepistons oflsuchzcylinders working in corresponding order with theelliptical guide to produce an explosion stroke in e-ach cylinder forevery revolution thereof.

Some of the advantages of my improvements may be enumerated as follows:Expansion takes place behind a piston which is practically free and themoment of rotation or torque'is alwaysqangent to a circle of revolutionof the cylinders, suoli force being practically the same whether theexplosion occurs near the beginning of the stroke of the piston ortoward the end thereof*due allorwance being made, of course',- fortheloss eliarrfe-v-as distinfvuished from the Ordinar b explosion motor'havinga crank connected* with the piston, wherein'explosionsuocoui',' i

normally, about as the piston is on' thepoii'itE lof beginning itsWorking stroke, when thev 'crankis-least 1n a position to convert theower of the explosion into useful torque,

t will lthus be seen thatwith my improve' ments full leverage', equal tothe'distance fromthe axis of rotation of thelcylinder to its?longitudinal axis, is constantly in position to Aact with the explosionand expansion forces of the gases (aswell as for exhausting'- taking inand com ressinfr the vases as dis- ?J C Z5 tinguished from the varyingleverage of -a motor utilizing a crank,'a nd by reason'ofthe ellipticalpiston guide such full and constant leverage is exerted four tiinesduring each revolution of each cylinder. The'motor is simple and durablein construction, contains no small or delicate parts and, for the powerdeveloped,.compared .with motors having cranks and. cylmders of similarbore and stroke, is relatively light in weight..

lt will be evident that practically any number of disk and cylinderunits may be arranged on or connected with a single shaft, such as sideby side, the disposal of the several cylinders around the axis ofrotation being so arranged thatpower strokes or explosions may followeach other at relatively short intervals thereby permitting substan- 5tially constant torque'upon said shaft.

Lubrication may be effected in any suitable manner as by Well known oilholes inthe.

bearings communicating with a helical or other groove cu t in thecondave'bearing surface and communicating with the interior of thecasing'adjacent the sides of disk 5, so that the rotation ol'V theshafts 6 and 8 'carries the oil inwardly, and when it reaches thesurface of the disk centrifugal force causes the oil to travel towardthe periphery of the disk, A

andit is iinally deposited within'the elliptical chamber where' itserves to lubricate thef parts by splash". vSuitable passages maya-lsobe provided through the walls of the cylinders. By having the sides ofthe disk 5 and the parts of the casing that come in contact therewithproperly ground and fitted. there will be a film of oil between thesides; of the disk and ysaid plates, providing ane'fiif cientlubricationand preventing the leakage of gases from ,the cylinders intothe elliptical case, should there be a tendency to such escape fromthrelioles 33 for ignition.'

Any desired number of cylinders maybe provided on a disk or support 5,by properly proportioning the dimensions thereof to the dimensions ofthecylinders.

While I have illustrated and described an embodiment of my invention, itwill be une5' of power, in the latter case, through a reducl derstoodthat the arrangements shown and .cylinders for lubrication of `thepistons and substantially tangentially with respect to itsaxis ofrot-ation, means for rotatively supporting said cylinder, a piston-forsaid'cylinder, means for causing a-given point of said pistonto-describe anl approximately ellip-- tical path or curve'around itsaxis of rotation during. one revolution of the cylinder to 'cause thepiston to make four strokes during 'such4 revolution, and means to admitfluid vto and discharge it from said cylinder.

3a causing said piston to reciprocate four tiines in its cylinder durlngone revolution'thereof,

2. A motor vcomprising a cylinder disposed substantially tangentiallywith respect to its- 'axis of rotation, a support for said cylinder, a

pistonI for said cylinder, anv4 elliptical guide having its, centersubstantially coincident with the axis of said support, means connectingsaid piston Withsaid elliptical'guide'ior causing said piston toreciprocate iourl timesl in its cylinder during one revolution thereof,Aand means to admit fluid from said cylinder".l

A motor comprising a cylinder disposed substantially tangentiallywithrespect lto its axis of rotationfa support forsaid cylinder, a pistonfor said cylinder, an elliptical uide to andldischargeit aving its-center substantially coincident.

'with the axis of said support, means connect-l ing said' piston with'said elliptical guide for' said cylinder having inlet and exhaust'ports'near its inner end, separate inlet and exhaust ports'A to communicatetherewith, and means to ignite compressed charges in saidcylinder.'

4. 'A motor comprising a lurality of cylinders disposed substantia ytangentially with respect to their 'axis of rotation, a rot'ative suport for said cylinders, pistons for said cy inders,V an ellipticalguide having its axis vlsubstantially concentric with the axis .of v

rotation of said cylinder support, means peratively'connecting saidpistons lwith said 'elliptical guide to cause each of saidpistons toAreciprocate'four times-during each com-v plete revolution'oi eachcylinder', and means to admit Liluid to andl discharge iiuid from saidcylinders successively.

5. A motor comprising a pluralityof cyl- 'aplpended claims, Withoutdepartingl casingl independently of sa inders disposed substantially'-.tangentially withrespect-to their axis of rotation',- a rotas-veratively connectingv said istons with 'said' elliptical guide tocauseeac -ofsaid' pistons toreciprocate four timesduringje'ach completerevolution oi' veach cylinder, means'toadmit fluid to and discharge uidfrom said cylinders successively ,said cylinders having ports, and anigniter located positionto communicate with said, ports of'ysaidcylinders.'V

6. Aim'otor'comprising a rotative support provided with a plurality ofcylinders substanltially'tangentiallydis osed with respect to the ,axisof rotation or' sai support, pistons in'said cylinders, sai'd'supporthaving hollow shafts, a ,casing `'containing sai-d, sup ort landcylinders, and' provi-ded Withliu s' receiving. said shafts, saidcylinders having inlet and exhaust ports, means tocontrol the iloW. ofgases through said ports and lhollow shafts said cylindershaving'ignition ports in their sidewalls, a spark plug supported by saidport and having an elongated opening tocoact-witli the.cylinderignitionports to i nite cylinder supgases in'said cylinders throughsaidign1tion,

ports, andan elliptical guideto cause said pistons each to reciprocatefour times during each' revolution of each cylinder'.

' 7 A motor comprising la rotative support 'provided with a plurality ofcylinders substantially-1tangentially disposed with 'respect to the.axis o f-rotationgof said support,

pistons lin said cylinders, said support having hollow shafts, a casing`containing said sup.- port and cylinders, and provided with. hu sreceivinofsaidv shafts, said cylinders having inlet and iiow of gasesthrough' saidports Vand hollowsliafts, said cylinders having ignitionports, means'- to 'ignite gas .through saidv 4ignition ports,l an'elliptical n1 said lcylinders exhaust ports, means to control the guidedisposed wit'hout--sair-i'cylinders,` and means connected `With midpistons to co-act" `With said guide to cause four reciprocations oi saidpistons during each revolution thereof.

FRANK Q. AXTELL.. lWitnesses:

" T. F. BoURN

